Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons

What Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons does

The Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (legal name: Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons; DBA: SLS) is a Florida-incorporated 501C3 non-profit professional medical society founded in 1990, headquartered in North Miami Beach. It is organized as a multispecialty and multidisciplinary forum serving general surgeons, gynecologists, urologists, pediatric surgeons, thoracic surgeons, residents and fellows, nurses, and allied medical professionals interested in laparoscopic, endoscopic, robotic, and minimally invasive surgical techniques. Its governance structure consists of a Board of Directors with Paul Wetter listed as Chairman; the organization runs with 1–10 employees.

SLS's product portfolio is anchored by peer-reviewed publications — JSLS ("the most-read MIS journal"), CRSLS (case reports), MISToday (practice-management magazine), and SLSNow (news) — alongside the annual MISWeek conference, the proprietary Top Gun Advanced Laparoscopic Skills & Suturing Program (claimed to compress intracorporeal suturing learning time from 350 to 12 hours, distributed as a $44.97 three-volume iBook set), and the PM3 open-access textbook written by 130 authorities and translated into 23 languages. Additional offerings include Online CME Credits (education.sls.org), fellowship programs, Special Interest Groups, an ORReady worldwide outcomes initiative, the SLS Career Center, the Find A Specialist member directory, and SLS TV (open-access YouTube content).

The revenue model combines three streams: recurring membership dues providing access to member-only resources including the Career Center and member directory; transaction-fee revenue from annual MISWeek conference registrations; and one-time educational product sales (primarily the Top Gun iBook set). The PM3 textbook is distributed as open-access at no cost, with an optional $15 iPad edition. Distribution relies on direct channels (sls.org, membership.sls.org, education.sls.org), third-party platforms (Apple iBookstore/iTunes, YouTube), and in-person conference delivery. Go-to-market is community-led: customer acquisition is driven through the flagship MISWeek conference, publications, the Find A Specialist directory, fellowship programs, online CME, and Special Interest Groups.

Name

Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons

Legal name

Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons

Website

https://sls.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons (SLS) is a non-profit 501C3 multispecialty medical society founded in 1990 that serves general, gynecologic, urologic, pediatric, and thoracic surgeons through peer-reviewed journals, the annual MISWeek conference, the Top Gun laparoscopic skills program, fellowship and CME programs, and an open-access surgical complications textbook.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

North Miami Beach

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees providing access to member-only resources including the Find A Specialist directory, career center with new jobs, member directory, and other member-exclusive content and networking opportunities.
2. MISWeek Annual Meeting: Annual conference revenue from registration fees for the multispecialty Minimally Invasive Surgery Week / SLS Annual Meeting, which is a conference of multiple MIS societies.
3. Educational Products: Sale of Top Gun iBook set for $44.97 total, providing laparoscopic skills training curriculum. PM3 textbook is provided free as open-access.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SLS is a multispecialty medical society that delivers continuing education, training, and publications to surgeons and health professionals interested in minimally invasive and robotic surgery. Its core offerings include peer-reviewed journals (JSLS, CRSLS), the MIS Today magazine, the annual MISWeek conference, online CME credits, fellowship programs, and specialized training curricula such as the Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills & Suturing Program and the open-access PM3 textbook.

Product overview

SLS (Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons) is a multispecialty and multidisciplinary medical society focused on minimally invasive and robotic surgery. The organization operates as a platform offering peer-reviewed publications (JSLS, CRSLS, MISToday, SLSNow), annual conferences (MISWeek), educational programs (Online CME Credits, Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills Program, Fellowship Programs), career resources (SLS Career Center), member directories, and scholarly resources (SLS Scholarly Search). Key educational products include the Prevention & Management of Laparoendoscopic Surgical Complications (PM3) textbook, SLS TV video content, and the ORReady initiative. The society also provides a Virtual Exhibit Hall and Special Interest Groups for member engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MISWeek: Annual meeting and multispecialty conference focused on minimally invasive surgery, robotic techniques, and related surgical technologies
• JSLS - Journal of the Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons
• CRSLS - MIS Case Reports from SLS
• MIS Today
• Top Gun Laparoscopic Skills & Suturing Program
• ORReady
• SLS TV

Products and services

• MISWeek 2026 / SLS Annual Meeting
• JSLS — Journal of the Society of Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeons

Quantifiable outcome

• Top Gun program reduces intracorporeal suturing learning time from 350 hours to 12 hours
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• Intuitive Surgical: Manufacturer of the da Vinci robotic surgical system and a dominant training ecosystem player through Intuitive Foundation and My Intuitive platforms. Intuitive's surgeon training programs, fellowships, and educational content directly intersect with SLS's MIS education mission and compete for surgeon attention and training dollars.

Direct peers

• Endourological Society: International society focused on endourology and minimally invasive urology, covering the same endourological section as PM3 (Chapters 65–72). It competes for urologist members and runs overlapping fellowship and meeting programming.
• Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS): Specialty society representing thoracic surgeons, one of the multispecialty constituencies SLS explicitly serves. STS runs its own annual meeting, The Annals of Thoracic Surgery, and educational programming that intersects with SLS's thoracic MIS coverage.
• Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES): Leading North American surgical society dedicated to gastrointestinal and endoscopic surgery. SAGES is the closest direct peer to SLS, running its own annual meetings, peer-reviewed journals (Surgical Endoscopy affiliation), fellowship programs, and MIS-focused CME that directly compete with MISWeek and JSLS.
• AAGL (Elevating Gynecologic Surgery): Specialty society advancing minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. AAGL competes for the same gynecologic surgeon membership segment that SLS serves via its multispecialty forum, while running overlapping annual meetings, fellowships, and the Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology.

Emerging players

• Touch Surgery (Medtronic): Digital surgical training and simulation platform owned by Medtronic. Touch Surgery represents an emerging, app-based alternative to traditional society-delivered CME and skills training that competes with SLS Top Gun and online CME offerings in the digital surgeon education space.

Regional players

• European Association for Endoscopic Surgery (EAES): Primary European counterpart society for endoscopic and laparoscopic surgery. EAES provides the same multispecialty MIS community, journals (Surgical Endoscopy cooperation), and annual congresses in Europe, competing for international members outside SLS's home market.
• Endoscopic and Laparoscopic Surgeons of Asia (ELSA): Pan-Asian society for endoscopic and laparoscopic surgeons, offering regional meetings and educational programs that overlap with SLS's MIS curriculum and compete for international surgeon members across Asia-Pacific markets.
• Canadian Association of General Surgeons (CAGS): Canadian national society for general surgeons with significant minimally invasive surgery programming. CAGS provides a regionally tailored alternative to SLS for Canadian surgeon members considering multinational society memberships.

Broad incumbents

• American College of Surgeons (ACS): The largest U.S. professional organization for surgeons. ACS is a broad incumbent with far greater resources, publishing the Journal of the American College of Surgeons and Clinical Congress, which compete with SLS's JSLS and MISWeek for member attention, journal submissions, and conference attendance.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SocietyLapSurgeons
• Xx.com/slsorg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons